Evolution education in Canadaʼs museums: where is human evolution? Sarah Bean Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal February 2011 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts. © Sarah Bean, 2011 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-75858-8 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-75858-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Acknowledgements !This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people. I would first like to sincerely thank my committee: Prof. Brian Alters, Prof. Mike Bisson, and Prof. Andre Costopoulos. I am grateful for their support and encouragement, not only throughout my Masters degree, but also during my years as an undergraduate. !To all the staff members at the various museums across Canada and the United States who participated in my study: a sincere thank you for your time, and your insightful comments. I would also like to thank Genie Scott and all the wonderful people at the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California, for sharing their knowledge about evolution education. !It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the financial assistance that I received over the past two years; I especially thank Prof. Brian Alters for providing financial support. I would like to thank the Faculty of Arts for awarding me an Arts Graduate Student Travel Award, and I also thank the Department of Anthropology for providing funds throughout my graduate studies. !I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped edit this thesis. First, I thank my committee for their assistance, comments and suggestions throughout this process. I also thank Sophie Charbonneau, who translated my abstract into French. I would also like to gratefully acknowledge my friends (and proof-readers): Deanna Dytchkowskyj, who can always be counted on to help put things into perspective, and Sean Desjardins, whose friendship and sense of humor have kept me smiling through it all. !Last, but certainly not least, I wish to thank my parents, Lori and Ivan Bean. I have been fortunate to have a mother who has been willing to volunteer her time as my editor, and her help with editing this thesis is but one example of her support over the years. To both my parents, thank you for all you have done; you have always encouraged me in my endeavors, and your support means more to me than you will ever know; words cannot express how grateful I am to you both. ii Abstract !!While an interest in the origin of human beings may be a cultural universal, there are various views and beliefs about how this event took place. In Canada, a recent (2010) Angus Reid survey revealed that only 61% of Canadians accepted that humans evolved over millions of years; 39% of the population either believed in creationism or did not accept evolution as a scientific fact. These statistics suggest that human evolution education is a topic that needs to be addressed. !!This thesis investigates the role of museums in public education about human evolution. Prior to this study, the number of Canadian museums with exhibits about this topic was unknown. Sixteen Canadian museums participated in this study, and the results demonstrated that only two had permanent exhibits on human evolution, and one creationist museum presented a biblically-based account of human origins. Here, it is argued that more of Canada"s museums should consider incorporating human evolution education into their mandates. Résumé !Bien que l"intérêt envers les origines de l"Homme soit un universel culturel, plusieurs points de vue et croyances divergent au sujet du commencement de l"humanité. Au Canada, un récent sondage (2010) de la firme Angus Reid a révélé que seulement 61% des Canadiens acceptent le fait que l"humain ait évolué sur une période de millions d"années, et 39% croient plutôt au créationnisme ou ne considèrent pas l"évolution comme un fait scientifique. Ces statistiques suggèrent que l"évolution de l"homme soit un sujet qui doit être abordé. !Cette thèse étudiera le rôle que jouent les musées dans l"éducation de la population à propos de l"évolution de l"homme. Le nombre de musées canadiens présentant une exposition sur le sujet n"était pas encore connu avant la réalisation de cette étude. Selon les résultats de celle-ci, seuls deux des seize musées canadiens qui y ont pris part consacraient une exposition permanente à l"évolution de l"homme, et un autre musée, créationniste, proposait une version biblique des origines de l"homme. Cette thèse démontre que davantage de musées canadiens devraient envisager d"avoir pour objectif l"éducation de la population sur l"évolution humaine. iii Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................... p. 1 Section I: Evolution Education................................................................ p. 2 Why is it Important to Understand Evolution?............................................ p. 3 Misunderstandings and Misconceptions .................................................... p. 6 Opposition to Evolution............................................................................... p. 8 After Darwinʼs Origins: The Beginning of Modern Creationism.................. p. 10 Canadian Creationists................................................................................ p. 14 The Current State of Affairs of Creationism in Canada............................... p. 18 Section II: The Museum............................................................................ p. 20 Section III: Data and Methods.................................................................. p. 22 Questionnaire.............................................................................................. p. 24 Results........................................................................................................ p. 25 Creationist vs. Science-Based Museums................................................... p. 49 Section IV: Synthesis and Recommendations...................................... p. 53 Recommendations..................................................................................... p. 55 Conclusion.................................................................................................. p. 57 References.................................................................................................. p. 59 iv Introduction !The theory of evolution is fundamental to modern biology. It allows us to understand how the diversity of life on Earth came into being and how organisms have changed over time. As Dobzhansky stated in 1973, “seen in the light of evolution, biology is, perhaps, intellectually the most satisfying and inspiring science. Without that light it becomes a pile of sundry facts - some of them interesting or curious but making no meaningful picture as a whole” (p. 129). While the theory of evolution allows us to understand the connection between all life on Earth, past and present, there are members of society who take issue with this statement, especially concerning one particular species: Homo sapiens. A recent Angus Reid survey revealed that 39% of the Canadian population either believes in a creationist origin for humans, or does not accept the evolutionary evidence as scientific fact (Angus Reid, 2010). This suggests that public education about human evolution is a topic that must be addressed. !This thesis investigates the role of the museum in educating the public about human evolution. Prior to this study, the number of Canadian museums with exhibits on this topic was unknown. Therefore, the goals were to: 1) Determine which Canadian museums had exhibits on human evolution; 2) Investigate